All you needed was a couple of instruments and a few chords and you could be on an indie label.

I subscribe to the myth that an artist's creativity comes from torment. Once that's fixed, what do you draw on?

It's a fundamental, social attitude that the 1% supports symphonies and operas and doesn't support Johnny learning to program hip-hop beats. When I put it like that, it sounds like, 'Well, yeah,' but you start to think, 'Why not, though?' What makes one more valuable than another?

With pop music, the format dictates the form to a big degree. Just think of the pop single. It has endured as a form even in the download age because bands conform to a strict format, and work, often very productively, within the parameters.

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around.

A dissection of music perception and creation that starts slowly and inexorably builds to a grand finish. I loved reading that listening to music coordinates more disparate parts of the brain than almost anything else--and playing music uses even more! Despite illuminating a lot of what goes on this book doesn't "spoil" enjoyment- it only deepens the beautiful mystery that is music.

Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.